Small Business Owner Gives Obama a Piece of His Mind

Some U.S. business owners got a chance Monday to meet with White House advisors and give their own take on the fiscal cliff, tax hikes and more.

Among the entrepreneurs invited to the discussion was Drew Greenblatt, president of Marlin Steel (www.MarlinWire.com ) -- a small business in Baltimore, Md.It was unclear at press time if President Obama attended the meeting.

Ahead of the meeting, Greenblatt said he has one thing on his mind.

“We’ve got to increase job creation, fast,” he told FOX Business. “This recession has gone on too long, and now is the time for us to turn it around by creating certainty.”

As for those looming tax increases for those making above $250,000 annually, Greenblatt said he was going to deliver a message that the move would stunt economic growth and hiring. American factories, he said, are one example of a small business that pays taxes on a personal level of income. Increasing their tax rate will deter potential for economic gains.

“It makes us less competitive against our economic adversaries like Canada and Germany,” Greenblatt said. “Right now, American factories are paying much more in taxes than our German and Canadian rivals. We have to be more competitive—if we are more competitive, we will win more jobs… we will hire more locals.”

And if government spending continues on its current path, he said, it is a road to doom.

“It’s a failed strategy and a failed policy,” he said. “We need to have a very competitive economic environment to have growth surge in our country. Then we will [be able to] pay more money in taxes, because we will all be making more money. If the pie is bigger, it’s easier to grow out of this terrible recession.”